“I’m betting the aforementioned stab will cost Kadowaki a lot in the way of mental stability, so his next clash with Arata should be prime-time viewing. Bonus points if he butts in in the middle of a face-off between Arata and Yorunami.”

-Me, 6 days ago

Just wanted to point out that I got a prediction right for once. Added some enjoyment to an episode that was already good for other reasons.

Kadowaki and Akachi have a really effed-up disciple-mentor relationship going on. I’m not sure if that’s how stabbing out an eye normally works, but it seemed to be sitting with Kadowaki fine. Not going to split hairs about fantasy medical issues. More pressing is the idea that last episode’s original stab is now rendered useless. It’s an idea with which I mostly disagree. Granted, the long-term story impact and takeaway is lessened, though Kadowaki still did get rabid resolve out of it. However, the scene where he lost his eye remains as one of the show’s more powerful moments. It’s a concept I wrote about a while back; both are important and valuable.

The main fight between the three could have ended up being a convenient method of revisiting Arata’s past with Kadowaki in all the ways necessary to drag the latter’s newfound convictions through so much mud. That would have been my first guess when I learned that Yorunami had a memory-manipulating power. As it turns out, it was less reconcilatory flashback and more bald-faced, creepy attempts by Yorunami to play with Arata’s memories of his mother to drag out the magic surrender.

*shivers*

It was a scene that creeped me out because of just how direct it was. Yorunami’s mother complex initially came as a bit of a surprise. As the driving force behind a character, it’s iffy, and his ultimate backstory was . As a fixation that drove his mindscrew strategems, it made Yorunami’s reaction to Arata’s resistance very interesting to watch. Ultimately defeating the illusion with the power of love is a dull-bladed story decision, but the process part was an engrossing watch. Too, the scene at the end with the necklace was a bit touching.

I’m always a sucker for maternal love stories

We’re very obviously going to get our final battle between Arata and Kadowaki. Regardless of how it turns out, this has been a show solidly worth watching (and fun to blog, to boot).